Autumn 2025. We – Sam and Danny, Michel and Wille, and Timothy – are travelling to Japan for a quite classic tour of the Land of the Rising Sun. We are flying separately as we used miles. On the planning: Tokyo, Kanazawa, Shirakawa, Osaka, and Expo 2025, Hiroshima, Himeji, Miyajima, Kyoto, Nara, Nagoya, Hakone, and back to Tokyo. Three weeks plus some extra days.

Nagoya hosts the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology (産業技術記念館, Sangyo-Gijutsu Kinenkan), which is not to be confused with the Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagakute.

History of Toyota Industries Corporation

Toyota Industries Corporation (株式会社豊田自動織機, Kabushiki gaisha Toyota Jidō Shokki, meaning ‘Toyota Automatic Loom Corporation‘) is a Japanese manufacturing company headquartered in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture. Founded on 18 November 1926 by Sakichi Toyoda, it is the original company from which Toyota Motor Corporation later developed. As of 2024, it remains active in textile machinery and is the world’s largest manufacturer of forklift trucks by revenue.

The company began as Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd., producing the revolutionary 1924 Type G automatic loom, which greatly improved quality and productivity and became a cornerstone of Japan’s industrial modernisation. In 1933, Sakichi’s son Kiichiro established an automobile department, which was spun off in 1937 as Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. Toyota Industries remains a core member of the Toyota Group, holding shares in Toyota Motor while Toyota Motor retains a stake in its parent firm.

In the postwar years, Toyota Industries expanded into steel production, casting, and automotive components, listing its stock on major Japanese exchanges by 1949. During the 1950s and 1960s, it began manufacturing lift trucks, diesel engines, and compressors, while its Kyowa and Nagakusa plants produced vehicles such as the Toyota Publica. The company grew into one of Japan’s leading exporters and innovators in materials handling and automation.

From the 1970s onwards, Toyota Industries shifted towards industrial and logistics technologies. It began producing air-conditioning compressors and established overseas operations, notably in the United States in the 1980s. By the 1990s, it had produced over five million vehicles and introduced environmental management policies.

Today, Toyota Industries operates across five key sectors: automotive, materials handling, electronics, logistics, and textile machinery. Its forklifts are built in Indiana under Toyota Material Handling Inc., which unites the brand’s North American manufacturing and sales. The company produces engines for Toyota vehicles such as the Corolla and RAV4 and has expanded through major acquisitions, including BT Industries, Cascade Corporation, Vanderlande, and viastore. In 2021, it launched T-Hive, a division developing autonomous vehicle software for logistics and warehouse automation.

As of 2024, Toyota Industries continues to manufacture advanced looms such as the JAT910 air jet and LWT810 water jet models, maintaining the company’s link to its origins in textile machinery while remaining a global leader in industrial innovation.

Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota Motor Corporation, headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, was incorporated on 28 August 1937 under the leadership of Kiichirō Toyoda. Its origins trace back to his father Sakichi Toyoda’s loom-manufacturing business, with the transition into automotive production beginning as a department of that company.

In the early years, the firm developed its first Type A petrol engine in 1934 and produced its first passenger car, the Model AA, in 1936. During the 1940s, as Japan entered and then emerged from World War II, Toyota pivoted from military production to civilian vehicles and benefited from the post-war industrial recovery under U.S. occupation policies.

The 1950s marked a turning point as Toyota refined its manufacturing practices by studying U.S. automotive operations and implementing what became known as the Toyota Production System and its management philosophy, The Toyota Way. With Japan’s economy booming in the 1960s, Toyota introduced economy cars such as the Corolla and expanded internationally, particularly into North America and Southeast Asia.

In the 1980s Toyota responded to global trade pressures by establishing production plants in overseas markets, notably in the United States, and launched its luxury brand Lexus in 1989 to serve international premium markets. The 1990s saw further diversification into larger vehicles, alongside the pioneering of the Prius in 1997 — the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle.

In the 2000s and 2010s, Toyota navigated both rapid global expansion and significant challenges: it weathered the 2008 financial crisis, the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which disrupted its supply chain, and large vehicle recalls related to unintended acceleration. By 2020, Toyota had reclaimed its position as the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, with about 9.5 million vehicles sold during a year affected by the pandemic.

Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, located in Nishi‑ku, Nagoya, stands on the historic site of the founding plant of the Toyota Group and is housed in a preserved red‑brick factory building dating from the early 20th century. 

The museum opened in June 1994, on the centennial of the birth of Kiichiro Toyoda, and was jointly established by 13 companies of the Toyota Group with the aim of promoting the spirit of creativity and ‘making things’ (monozukuri) to future generations. The building itself, formerly part of the site of Toyoda Spinning & Weaving Co., Ltd. and the birthplace of the group’s textile machinery business, has been designated as an industrial heritage site.

Visitors to the museum move through two principal halls. The Textile Machinery Pavilion uses the original factory architecture—pillars, beams and red bricks from the Taishō era—to display the evolution of spinning and weaving machines from early hand‑tools through to modern mechatronic equipment. 

Live demonstrations allow guests to see yarn being spun and fabric woven in front of them, offering a tangible connection to the machinery and the techniques that laid the foundation for Japan’s manufacturing might.

Automobile Pavilion

In the Automobile Pavilion, the museum tells the story of how the group transitioned from textiles into automobile production. Exhibits cover early vehicles, development and production technologies, and future‑oriented mobility systems. 

Motor vehicles, engine parts and assembly equipment are shown alongside multimedia presentations and real‑time manufacturing demonstrations, giving visitors a detailed picture of how cars are made and how that field has developed.

Beyond the core exhibition halls, the museum includes a ‘Technoland‘ zone for interactive learning, a library housing roughly 20,000 books on science and industry, a video library, a gift shop, café and restaurant, making it suitable for a full‑day visit. A prototype plant site associated with Toyota’s earliest automobile work in Kariya is also part of the museum’s extended programme, available by guided tour.

In its history, the museum has marked a range of milestones: in 2007 it installed a steam engine dating from 1898, and in 2014 it undertook major renewal of the Automobile Pavilion to mark its 20th anniversary. 

By October 2023 it had welcomed over seven million visitors. The museum continues to evolve, mounting special exhibitions on topics such as QR‑code innovation and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Type G automatic loom, underscoring both its heritage and its ongoing relevance.

The museum is easily accessible: the address is 4‑1‑35 Noritake Shin‑machi, Nishi‑ku, Nagoya 451‑0051; it is a three‑minute walk from Sako Station on the Meitetsu Nagoya Line or about ten minutes from Kamejima Station on the Higashiyama Subway Line. 

Opening hours are from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM (last admission at 4:30 PM), and it is closed on Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday) and over the year‑end/New Year period. Admission is approximately ¥1,000 for adults, with reduced rates for students, children and seniors.

A visit

The Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology absolutely did not meet my expectations… as I expected a car museum. It’s not, or not really. Instead we saw a very interesting museum showcasing textile looms and showing how fabrics are fabricated. 

The Automobile Pavilion does show cars, but really focus on design, development and productions. Being able to see the evolution of production lines, is very insightful. 

I would absolutely recommend visiting the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology if you’re in Nagoya. 

Railway and transport museums

• REVIEW | SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya.
• REVIEW | Mazda Museum in Hiroshima.
• LITHUANIA | Railway Museum and Rail Park in Vilnius.
• REVIEW | Forney Transportation Museum in Denver.
• RIGA | National Library of Latvia and the Latvian Railway History Museum.
• REVIEW | The Railway Museum, Ōmiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
• REVIEW | ‘Belgian Railways Under Occupation: Between Collaboration and Resistance’ at Train World in Brussels.
• REVIEW | Conservatoire National de Véhicules Historiques & Musée d’Histoire de la Brasserie de Diekirch car and beer museums in Diekirch, Luxembourg.
• A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
• MONTREAL | Exporail – Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant.
• REVIEW | Motion and emotion at the London Transport Museum.
• BAVARIA | Lokwelt – Locomotive World in Freilassing .
• REVIEW | Orient-Express exhibition at Train World, Brussels’ railway museum.
• REVIEW | Train World exhibition ‘From Peking to Hankow: a Belgian adventure in China’.
• PHOTOS | Train World railway museum in Brussels.
• Railway and transport museums (not) to visit.
• Nuremberg Transport Museum / DB Museum.
• Slovenian Railway Museum in Ljubljana.
• VIDEO | Mail Rail and The Postal Museum in London.
• Plans for a steam train heritage service between Brussels and Mechelen shelved.
• PHOTOS | Museo del Ferrocarril de Madrid Delicias railway museum.
• VIDEO | Museu del Ferrocarril de Catalunya – Catalonia Railway Museum in Vilanova.
• REVIEW | Romanian Railway Museum ‘Muzeul CFR’ and Bucharest.
• PHOTOS | UK’s National Railway Museum (NRM) in York.
• PHOTOS | Swiss Museum of Transport Verkehrshaus in Lucerne.
• PHOTOS | Het Spoorwegmuseum – Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht.
• VIDEO | Return to Spoorwegmuseum Utrecht for the dining car exhibition ‘Tosti’s, truffels, treinen’.
• VIDEO | Stoomtram Hoorn – Medemblik steamtram light rail in Holland.
• Visiting Odense and the Danish Railway Museum.
• Deutsches Museum’s Verkehrszentrum or Transport Centre in Munich.

2025 Journey Across Japan

1. Japan’s Superconducting Maglev train breaks world speed record at 603 km/h.
2. Japan’s maglev bullet train delayed to 2035 or later as costs rise to ¥11 trillion.
3. QUESTION | Should you be stressed about travelling to Japan, and fear of missing out?.
4. Brussels Airport to Milan Malpensa with Brussels Airlines, operated by Air Baltic, ft. the 2025 check-in and boarding software hack.
5. REVIEW | Sala Montale Exclusive Lounge and Sala Gae Aulentin Premium Lounge at Milan Malpensa Airport, extra Schengen.
6. REVIEW | All Nippon Airways (ANA), Business Class, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to Tokyo.
7. REVIEW | Toei Animation Museum in Nerima, Tokyo.
8. JAPAN | Tokyo Station, its Character Street and Pokémon Store.
9. REVIEW | Onyado Nono Asakusa Hotel in Tokyo.
10. TOKYO | Asakusa ft. Sensō-ji Temple.
11. JAPAN | The Odoriko train from Tokyo to Ito on Izu Peninsula.
12. PHOTOS & REVIEW | The Izu Teddy Bear Museum in Izu-Kōgen.
13. JAPAN | A visit to Ito on Izu Peninsula in Shizuoka Prefecture.
14. REVIEW | Japan’s Saphir Odoriko in Premium Green Car from Ito on Izu Peninsula to Tokyo Station.
15. GAY TOKYO | 24 Kaikan in Asakusa (+ Ueno and Shinjuku).
16. TOKYO | Sawara in Chiba Prefecture, ‘Little Edo’ beyond Narita.
17. TOKYO | Omotesandō in Shibuya – AEON Shinonome –  Uniqlo – Muji.
18. PHOTOS | The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum in Koganei Park.
19. JAPAN | Solo in Tokyo.
20. REVIEW | Brussels Airport The View lounge.
21. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Business Class Brussels to Doha.
22. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Al Mourjan The Garden Business lounge.
23. REVIEW | Qatar Airways Q-Suite Business Class Doha to Tokyo.
24. REVIEW | Pullman Tokyo Tamachi.
25. REVIEW | The Railway Museum, Ōmiya, Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
26. TOKYO | Imperial Palace East Gardens – Akihabara – Tamiya flagship store – Skytree.
27. JAPAN | Kanazawa Castle – Kenrokuen Garden – Higashi Chaya District.
28. REVIEW | Daiwa Roynet Hotel Kanazawa Eki Nishiguchi.
29. JAPAN | Road trip to Hida no Sato, Takayama and Shirakawa-go from Kanazawa.
30. OSAKA | Namba Parks – Dōtonbori – Glico Man – Shinsaibashi.
31. REVIEW | Swissôtel Nankai Osaka.
32. Experiencing Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai Japan.
33. KANSAI | Osaka Castle ft. Toyotomi Stone Wall Museum.
34. OSAKA | EGDE store – Umeda Sky Building – Grand Front – Namba Parks – Daiso – Luscious.
35. REVIEW | Mazda Museum in Hiroshima.
36. REVIEW | Candeo Hotels Hiroshima Hatchobori.
37. JAPAN | The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, the Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial Museum.
38. JAPAN | Himeji Castle.
39. JAPAN | Itsukushima Shrine on Itsukushima aka Miyajima.
40. REVIEW | Miyajima Seaside Hotel.
41. REVIEW | Spending a night in a couples’ or love hotel: ホテルCOO玖 男塾ホテルグループ in Okayama.
42. KYOTO | Nishi Hongan-ji Temple.
43. KYOTO | Nijō Castle.
44. KYOTO | Kamo River – Takase River – Pontochō.
45. REVIEW | Mercure Kyoto Station.
46. REVIEW | Kyoto Railway Museum.
47. JAPAN | Kyoto Station.
48. REVIEW | Nintendo Museum in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture.
49. JAPAN | Nara with its sika deer, and Tōdai-ji with the Great Buddha.
50. KYOTO | The Eizan Electric Railway or Eiden Line, at the foot of Mount Hiei.
51. REVIEW | SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya.
52. JAPAN | Why you find Portuguese language signs in Nagoya.
53. REVIEW | Ibis Styles Nagoya.